In Haiti, there are a small yet visible number of Haitians that are of Middle-Eastern stock or trace their origins to Arab descendants. Hadrami ancestry can be found within the Arab Haitian community.

History[link]

The first Arabs to arrive in Haiti reached the shores of the Caribbean country during the middle to late 19th century.^[1] During the time, Haiti's business sector was dominated by German and Italian immigrants.^[1] Many of them migrated to the countryside where they peddled and were very informal economically speaking. World War I, which took place when Lebanon was part of the Germany-allied Ottoman Empire, triggered a Lebanese migration to the Americas, with Haiti receiving a large number of Lebanese immigrants.^[1] Haiti received a score of Palestinian refugees during the Arab-Israeli War.^[1] As of 2010^[update], the country was estimated to have about 15,000 residents of Lebanese heritage.^[2]

Social relations[link]

Arab Haitians are commonly considered as part of the upper class within Haitian society, yet they maintain their own unique presence separate from the very influential and much larger mixed-race and white Haitian populace. For years, they have been shunned by the poor black Haitian because of their association with the "elite" but have gradually begun to become accepted and amicably interact with the poor masses. Arab Haitians are prominent in Haiti's business sector and consequently, a large percentage of them reside and do business in the capital of Port-au-Prince. Middle class Arab Haitians often are the owners of many of the city's supermarkets.^{[citation needed]}

Notable Arab and Arab-descended Haitians[link]

• Nathalie Handal, writer, poet, and literary researcher (partial Arab ancestry)
• Antoine Izméry, murdered businessman and political activist
• Roberto and Reynaldo Martino, compas musicians (partial Arab ancestry)
• André Apaid, American-born Haitian tycoon
• Samir Mourra, Haitian businessman and 2006 Haitian Presidential candidate

References[link]

External links[link]

• HaitiXchange Forum - Arab Haitian History

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